It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, between May 27 and July 16, 2012, with the final table of the Main Event delayed until late October.

However, due to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, this year's final table was delayed until October 29, with heads-up play commencing the following day.

[1] The 2012 WSOP also hosted an event with the largest buy-in in poker history, a $1 million tournament benefiting the One Drop Foundation.

[1] The WSOP waived its normal 10% rake of the entry fees, and 11.1% of each buy-in (precisely $111,111) went to the foundation.

One Drop initially received US$5.44 million, including a 49th/personal $111,111 donation from Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber, who was ineligible to play because of his role with the company.

[70] Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, Antonio Esfandiari, and Kara Scott were the on-air talent and the event was produced by Poker PROductions, headed by Mori Eskandani.

[72] PokerNews provided hand histories, chip counts, results, photographs, podcasts, videos, interviews, and more from the 2012 WSOP.